Go Fund
Global Opportunity Fund
Our Programs
SEW FOR SISTERHOOD
Currently active in Ghana, the GO Fund’s SEW FOR SISTERHOOD program trains women in batik (tie-dye) and sewing in order to make fashion-forward products for a discerning customer. Fourteen women have been trained by fashion designer Monica Wontorski and currently produce all of the fashionable products for our GO Girl Shop! which can be found on this site. The beneficiaries of this program are marginalized women, many of whom are undereducated and/or widowed. Lacking proper education and technical skills training, these women have very few options beyond the traditional roles of wife and mother. The proceeds of the Shop enable them to support themselves and their families. Additionally, the GO Fund has committed to sponsor a stall at a local market to promote their products locally if they continue to supply such high-quality marketable merchandise. The ultimate goal of this program is for the women involved to become economically independent and self-sufficient.
GIFT-A-GOAT
For thousands of families in Africa, owning livestock has a direct correlation to a higher quality of living. Goats, in particular, often serve as personal “savings accounts,” providing families with nutrient-rich milk and fertilizer needed for small-scale farming. Through the GO Fund’s GOAT program, donors can “gift” a milk goat to a family in Kenya, thereby directly impacting their health and economic well-being. The GO Fund has also gifted goats to a rural Ghanaian orphanage where schoolchildren are taught how to care for the goats.
HOME FOR HOPE
Home for Hope (HFH), located in Asebu, Ghana was established by Alliance for Youth Development (AYD) in June 2007 through collaboration with community leaders and AYD’s Executive Director and Founder, Elvis Morris Donkoh. In Asebu many people live on less than $1/day. Most of the children living at HFH have lost parents to HIV/AIDS and have no other family able to care for them. Without HFH they would be living and fending for themselves on the streets. Instead, these children are receiving the care and nurturing to ensure healthy physical and emotional development, and the basic education and vocational skills necessary to provide for themselves once they reach adulthood. HFH is currently housed in a former post office building on loan from the Asebu community. However, this building will soon be reclaimed for use as a police station or library, and without a new facility there is the real possibility that these children will again become homeless. Land has been purchased and a foundation laid for these children’s new home, but Home for Hope needs additional financial support to complete the new facility and ensure continued care and education to these vulnerable children.
LOANS FOR A BETTER LIFE
In an uncertain financial market, even the most innovative and cost-effective entrepreneurs often do not have access to essential investment capital. This disparity is especially acute for many women in Africa who can barely afford to feed their children, let alone launch a business. Through our LOANS FOR A BETTER LIFE program, active in Uganda, the GO Fund distributes low-interest microcredit loans to entrepreneurial women who then repay the funds with the profits they generate from their small business.
HIV/AIDS SPONSORSHIP
According to UNAIDS, an estimated 170,000 children are orphaned in Ghana due to HIV/AIDS. These children are typically taken in by a relative or a foster family, or they may end up on the streets. In either scenario, these children are typically deprived of the care, nourishment and education they need to survive and thrive. Home for Hope, mentioned above is the only orphanage in the Asebu Abura Dukwa District however the current facility cannot accommodate children with HIV/AIDS. As mentioned above, it is our hope to have built a new facility by March 2011, which will offer shelter for children with HIV/AIDS who have been abandoned. Until then, we have matched vulnerable children with caring sponsors here in the United States. These sponsors provide $40 per month to cover the costs of the child’s food, clothing and medications. This relieves the burden on the foster family and results in better care of the child until a safe place of shelter is provided for them.